Tuesday, August 25, 2009

EDIT: Hot off the interwebs, the interview with Bo Madsen and the photos with the rest of Mew is up on 'SUP MAG, here.Amazing. Extraordinary. Immense. Epic. This was by far the best concert I've ever, EVER been to, and I've been to many (my ear doctor agrees). During the encore, I was upstairs photographing the crowd, and I was just standing there thinking, "this is so beautiful." It was overwhelming - I felt like I should've teared up or something.I was accidentally double-listed for photopasses because I was shooting my first assignment for the Bowery Presents blog, cleverly titled House List. I was also shooting for none other than 'Sup Mag.I met the Danish trio around soundcheck to take some very quick portraits for 'Sup. What a gracious bunch of lads! A teaser...Album dropped today in the States. It is sprawling and glorious. "Introducing Palace Players" is my favorite jam right now. For the complete set, go here.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

The great Danes! I had a chance to see them open for Kasabian a few years back, but I couldn't make to the venue on time. I'm absolutely thrilled to see them at Music Hall, such a small venue. The (now) trio will be supporting Nine Inch Nails for various dates.

"No More Stories Are Told...," the new album with an absurdly long name, drops this 25th.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

I briefly attended the Diesel U Music concert party at Webster Hall on Thursday. I was so horribly jet lagged from Hong Kong, having flown in the evening before, that I just couldn't make it through the night. Did catch Noisettes (love the new sound), Heartsrevolution though. But one day, just one day, mark my words, I will catch you in concert, Lykke Li!

Hong Kong was ...different. Vibrant. Nocturnal. Having grown up in New York City, I've always enjoyed traveling to other big cities but I've never felt at home at any of them. Until Hong Kong, that is. For one, I enjoy the night life a lot more over there, as malls and stores stay open until 8, even til 11 for youth-oriented micro-malls, and pubs much later. Taxis are so cheap. The public transportation infrastructure is amazing and inexpensive. There are all these great dessert chains dotting the city, like Hui Lau Shan and Honeymoon Dessert (I went on a holy grail quest for the best black sesame roll to no avail, though I did taste THE BEST red bean yellow sugar sticky cake). The one thing that I really don't like about Hong Kong, and the reason why I would waste away there, is that there is practically no independent music scene. Only big names play in Hong Kong (before I left, I saw advertisements for upcoming Placebo and Keane shows) or Macau, the neighboring former Portuguese colony a. k. a. East Asian Las Vegas (Fall Out Boy played at the Venetian during my trip). I was starved of English-language entertainment! Nevertheless, it was a fantastic month abroad, with much thesis-musings and general merriment. To see my Flickr set of travel photos, click here.